When The Going Gets Tough
by Beautifully Broken
Summary: Prue, Phoebe and Piper have been witches for three and a half years, there magic is finally settling and they can control it.But when Pipers ex boyfriend Dan returns changed and the charmed ones are assigned to help him, how will this affect Piper and Leo
1. When The Doorbell Rings

Prologue

Dan reached across the withered dining table; large blotches of coffee stain were spread across the top, and underneath were places were the paint had scraped off leaving wood marks.

The old man across from him, and the real estate agent had over-achieved smiles planted across their faces making them look almost robotic; he could tell that they both desperately wanted to sell this house.

He looked down at the documents that he was to sign if he wanted to buy this house.

It was definitely a bargain, he could go and have a coffee scroll and a cappuccino and it would cost about as much as this house was going to be.

It was a pretty nice house, quite old, but it was furnished so he considered that a bonus.

And the best bit of all that it was nine blocks away from the Halliwell manor where his ex girlfriend Piper lived.

It was the cheapest one he could afford that was away from the Halliwells but not too far from his work.

He lent onto the coffee table, steadied his pen, ready to sign when an image of Piper's flawless face and perky smile popped into his mind.

He froze, naturally it would be times like these; when he felt in love with her that he'd feel he and Piper's time together would freeze…just for a minute or two.

He knew it sounded stupid but he could have sworn sometimes it was if time had frozen.

The real estate agent obviously had somewhere to be, for he rushed Dan along to sign the papers so they could seal the deal.

He paused, apologized then signed.

It was done, he was now no longer Piper Halliwell's neighbour.

In the kitchen of the Halliwell Manor a young determined brunette whisked away at a couple of cakes and soufflés while her younger sister fixed her cropped singlet and cute cut hair.

"This doesn't make me look fat does it?" the younger one asked her supposedly wise sister.

"Even if it did Phoebe, you could always whisk up a spell to fix it" the annoyed brunette snorted.

"Ugh P3 calling you in again?" Phoebe shrugged the almost criticism away "What is going on around there, everything seems so hectic?"

"Who cares?" Piper bellowed

"Well you for one" Phoebe retaliated, she knew her sisters frustration and avoided the temptation to argue further.

Piper clapped her hands and flour went everywhere, including all over Phoebe.

Both sisters collapsed in hysterics.

"Aww it's times like these I miss" Piper cried, wiping away some tears.

"Yer me too" Phoebe tried to be serious but couldn't help laughing at Pipers face which was covered in flour.

"Hey…please don't tell me there's a flour demon?" Prue laughed as she walked into the coated kitchen where her two younger sisters were.

"It's okay Prue, we got him good" Piper grinned. Phoebe giggled and hopped up to greet her eldest sister.

"Good morning Sunday-Bed-Head!" Phoebe surprised her sister by wiping two flour lines on Prue's face.

Piper gave Prue and the innocent grin "Why you looking at me for, it was the demon!" Piper cried.

Phoebe giggled and gave Piper a hand up.

"So what are my two favorite sisters planning today?" She asked Piper and Prue

"The usual…" Prue started

"Work!" Piper and Phoebe finished there sister's sentence, whilst shrugging at each other.

They both knew too well that there sister was a work-a-holic.

The three sisters' began making there way towards the sunroom, all covered in flour carrying cold coffee.

Normally Piper wouldn't stand for this, but today she felt obliged.

Piper ran and jumped on her favorite chair; it was very old and had always been her favorite and it had been around since she was very young.

She crawled up it and covered herself in an old throw rug.

Prue elegantly posed herself on an innocent and professional looking armchair and Phoebe tried to push the small couch closer towards Prue and Piper.

After a few minutes of pushing, Prue waved her hand and moved the couch over to them.

Phoebe slipped onto the ground giving a gasp from both elder sisters.

"Thanks" Phoebe hissed giving Prue a cheeky grin.

Phoebe ran over and collapsed on the couch, slurping down her cold coffee.

"So Piper, when are you going to see Leo?" Phoebe giggled in excitement; this was one of Phoebe's favorite things to do, she loved gossip and relationships.

"Well we are going to…" Piper began but was interrupted by the door bell.

"I'll get it…" yelled Phoebe, who was already half-way there.

She got to the door and was speechless for a minute.

"Dan?" She asked the tall brooding man who stood before her HOVERING!

"Phoebe! I need you three sister's help!" Dan asked in confusion as he hovered by the door.


	2. A Very Long Night

Dan was sitting in the sunroom of the Halliwell Manor; the place he knew so well…or so he thought.

"Okay, I still don't get this, explain to me again how your hovering, Dan?" Phoebe stuttered.

"Well, I was sitting in my new house when I heard the heater stuffing up, I turned it off, reached in and found a small piece of paper" Dan told them.

"And…" Piper was quick to judge, she wasn't sure if she could believe this.

"And on the paper was some incantation, I read it out loud then some sparkles surrounded me and I began hovering" Dan continued without blinking.

'This is unbelievable" Prue said while walking around calling for Leo.

"What are you three anyway?" Dan asked them, leaning away from Piper.

"What do you mean exactly?" Phoebe asked him, giving Piper the 'shut up, don't tell him anything' look.

"Well I felt drawn to you three; someone or something told me that if I found you three this would all make sense…" Dan told them; earlier on when he received the powers he had felt the sudden urge to see Piper, he didn't want to tell her that though.

"Well…Dan…were" Piper started but found herself not being able to tell him the truth which during there relationship she had wanted desperately to explain to him.

"Witches…" Phoebe ended Piper's sentence; knowing her sister was incapable of telling Dan the truth about the three sisters he thought he knew so well.

"Oh…" Dan stated; the look on his face dropped from excited to almost disappointment.

In a sudden sprinkle of white lights, Pipers lover; Leo orbed in.

"Girls I…what's he doing here?" Leo said.

"Well Leo, it seems something stuffed up and gave Dan here…powers" she sighed the powers off; it was unbelievable, just like a nightmare.

"Powers? As in magical powers?" Leo asked them.

"What are you?" Dan asked, whilst circling Leo, sticking his hand around him; trying to find the white lights.

"Im…a white lighter" Leo told him as if it was something you'd see everyday.

"Remember when I told you not to worry about Leo, that he was an angel?" Piper asked a very frustrated Dan.

"Yes…" Dan said trying to remember the exact time.

"Well he is, think of him as like a guardian angel for witches…for us" Piper explained as simple as she could.

"So…you are Leo Wyatt…as in the same one who died all those years ago in world war two?" Dan asked; finding this very hard to swallow, witches, angels and powers were out of his league.

"Yes" Leo told him, "Now back to how you got the powers."

Piper and Prue shortened Dan's story, explaining to Leo how the powers came to Dan.

"Im being called…" Leo told them, gave Piper a quick peck on the lips and then orbed out.

"Wow! Am I going to be able to do that?" Dan asked the sisters eagerly.

Even without a premonition from Phoebe the sisters could tell that this was going to be a long night.


	3. Punch On

Piper led her ex-lover into the kitchen "Dan, help yourself to any food or anything…" Piper told him, pointing towards the signaling towards the kitchen cupboard.

"Thanks" he said; not making eye contact with the girl who he was still in love with.

She didn't say anything; just nodded her head.

He leaned in and pushed back a long strand of hair.

Her embraced her and leaned in to kiss her.

Caught up in the moment she almost let him.

At the last moment she pulled away and whispered "Eat something".

She turned to walk out to see Leo standing there; a look of anger/concern was spread across his face.

He glared at Dan.

Piper stood there in shock as she realized that Leo had seen all of that.

Leo lunged foreward and swung a punch at Dan.

He dodged and kicked at Leo's knee.

He took the kick and retaliated with a whack to the head.

Dan turned back; taking a second to breathe before punching Leo's stomach.

Leo hit the ground but hopped out quite quickly and smashed Dan against the cupboard door.

Both boys were bleeding, Piper stood there frozen in fear as she was pushed aside by the feuding boys.

Prue and Phoebe rushed in; hearing the commotion.

Dan hovered up and kicked Leo's face.

Leo fell backwards onto a waiting knife, Prue quickly moved it out of the way and Piper froze time.

Phoebe sighed relief and stood in between the boys.

When time unfroze; Phoebe was the barrier between Leo and Dan.

Dan tried to punch Leo, but Phoebe stopped it.

Dan grabbed Phoebe by the shoulders and pushed her aside, then took a great big smack at Leo's face.

Leo fell backwards into the glass door; it smashed everywhere.

Both Leo and Dan were covered in blood.

Phoebe cried as she hit the floor; powered from Dan's throw.

She jumped up and punched Dan's face.

He fell unconscious.

"Something I learned in Judo" Phoebe shrugged off the huge punch she had just did.

Piper was tied between Dan and Leo.

All she was thinking was "_Who's side do I run to?"_


	4. Near Death Experiance

"Don't Lie" Leo hissed at Piper, "I know what I saw!"

"Leo, its not like that! I don't love him, I love you!" She cried.

She lent foreward and reached for his hands; he pushed her away.

"Get away from me!" He spat and then orbed away.

She fell down to the couch and put her head to her hands.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and poured all over the cushions.

"_How could I be more stupid?" _Piper thought.

Phoebe went to go comfort her sister but Prue stopped her "Not this time, Phoebs" she said.

Phoebe nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

She began cleaning up the mess; so much shattered glass was everywhere that she had to be careful where she stepped.

Dan didn't wait to be excused; he rushed out of the Manor and slammed the door behind him, he got in his car and drove home.

Dan was so angry, he punched on the horn a couple of times just to piss off drivers and he slammed on the brakes a couple of times at the traffic lights.

He was sure he'd never been more angry than he was right now and all because of Piper!

He raced around a corner, shoved some random disk in the CD player and drank a bottle of whiskey.

He raced around the streets like there was no tomorrow until he hit the street just before his own; he turned the corner just a little to fast and bent down to change the CD…he didn't see the truck's blazing lights until it was too late.

He slammed on the brakes and hit the horn but the car span out of control until it collided with the truck.

Dan woke early the next day; he opened his eyes to see a glaring light shining through his bedside window…wait he didn't have a bedside window?

He rubbed his eyes until the adjusted to the light and took a look around; he was in hospital…attached to some machine that was really irritating.

The hospital was white…VERY white!

The only thing that wasn't white was a bunch of colourful flowers on the bedside table.

He felt tired and angry though he was not sure why.

A young brunette walked in, she was very familiar but his eyes hadn't properly adjusted to the new sight yet.

"How are you feeling?" She asked; slight anger but mainly concern in her voice.

He now knew who the beauty was.

"Uh…im alright…I think, what about you Piper?" he said.

"Well im not the one in hospital am I?" she cried; suddenly angry.

She apologized and rubbed his hand.

A tall man with sandy blonde hair snuck into the room, followed by a perky young girl with long brown-blonde hair wearing a singlet and blue cardigan, Dan knew who these two were too.

He looked up and smiled at the young girl and gave an apologetic look to the sandy haired man.

"Leo…im so sorry" Dan told the sandy haired man.

Tears snuck out of Dan's eyes; but he did his best to hide them.

The young girl came over and rubbed his hair "Hi Dan, how are you feeling?" she asked.

Leo apologized too and shook Dan's hand.

"Im okay…I guess, how bout you Phoebe?" Dan told her.

"Im alright" she said.

"What do you remember?" Leo asked him.

"Well I had a fight with you…then I stormed out of the house…I was really angry…I bought some whiskey…and spent the night driving around being an asshole and drinking…then I saw large blazing lights and…" Dan said and then paused "that's all I remember".


	5. Paris, here we come!

**A/N: Sorry it's taken a while to write this**

**XoXo**

It was late; Piper and Leo were sitting on the couch inside the Halliwell manor.

It had been three days since Dan's accident, and three days since he almost kissed Piper.

Things had been a bit shaky between Leo and Piper ever since but Leo was determined to get past it.

He passionately kissed Piper and told her something he had said to her every day since they first kissed early the following year; "I love you" he whispered and embraced her into his arms.

She nodded and then whispered back "Me too".

Leo was thrown back by her words; she sounded shaky and unsure and she had never ever once said 'me too' to him when he told her he loved her.

He felt his eyes begin to water but fought them back.

"Listen Piper, I think it's time we went away, you know, to clear our heads" Leo said as he cuddled close to her.

"I don't know, Leo" Piper muttered, "It's been a tough week".

"All the more reason to get away" Leo argued.

Piper nodded.

"Where would you like to go?" Leo asked

When he didn't get an answer he continued "How bout Paris, I hear they have some good chef's over there but of course they could never compare to you" Leo chuckled.

Piper smiled; this is what she loved about Leo, he was so carefree and compassionate.

"Paris sounds nice" she said.

"Okay" Leo replied and orbed them out before Piper knew what was happening.

Piper and Leo arrived in a small toilet cubicle decorated with French writing and a few poodles.

"Huh?" Piper asked and jumped out of Leo's arms.

"Take a step outside" Leo smiled.

Piper cautiously reached for the handle of the door, and pushed it open.

Outside there was lit by moonlight and the occasional street lamp.

Restaurants were placed everywhere and fireworks gleamed through the dark night sky.

Piper turned back to Leo who was suddenly dressed in a glamorous tuxedo, he turned Piper towards the mirror where she saw herself dressed in a dainty flowing black dress with her hair done in a bun on top of her head with a few strands of hair down across her face.

She was covered in precious jewels and was wearing some of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

"Come" Leo said, escorting her out into the Paris streets.

Piper stared at her surroundings in awe.

Leo led her over to a classy restaurant beside a small lake where white swans were swimming.

Piper and Leo sat directly underneath the moon.

Piper smiled at Leo, "_Now this is something Dan could never ever give me…" _she thought.

Uh-oh, Dan.

She suddenly was pulled out of her dream and remembered reality.

"Whats wrong, don't you like the dress?" Leo asked noticing Piper's frown.

"No, the dress is perfect, everything is perfect except…" Piper attempted to smile but found it almost impossible.

"Reality bites" Leo muttered.

"Yer, it does" Piper nodded.

Leo looked down and frowned sadly.

"Don't worry, we'll still have a great night here" Piper tried to reassure him.

She touched his cheek and he blushed.

"If you want to go, we'll go" Leo replied; not lifting his head up.

Piper nodded and held Leo's hands.

They orbed back into the lounge room; back in the same clothes and in the same position they had started off in.

Leo let go of Piper and orbed away.

Piper stared into space; where Leo had orbed away.

"Reality does bite" Piper muttered and stormed off to the kitchen trying to find some comfort food for the long night of thinking she had ahead.


End file.
